Frontiers of Reality: Where Science Meets the Paranormal

Evans, Hilary (Ed.)

This is a popular work on various anomalies--especially those that do not fall
within the purview of study of any organized discipline. Evans writes: "Some iso-
lated researchers . . . have given them attention, but no formal study has been made"
(p. 7). There are three parts. The first, "Hidden Forces," is on cosmic, geologi-
cal, atmospheric, and balls of light. The second, "Hidden Powers," or "wild
talents." Evans contributed "Mind and Body," which is on unorthodox healing. Eugene Taylor writes on "cyberbiology," which he defines as "the science of self-
regulation." Evans, in "`A New Force'?" which is about the "electric girls." In the
next chapter he writes about transcending time, specifically, the life review of the
last part, "Hidden Meanings," by which he means meanings other than those suggested
by appearances. Evans writes of "encounters with otherworldly beings," possession,
and exorcism. Mark Monavec writes on "The Psychology of Close Encounters," which he suggests are due to psychological processes occurring during altered states. In the
next chapter, "The Contactee Message," Moravec also feels the explanation lies
within. Evans returns with a chapter on religious visions, and proposes that they,
too, originate internally. The last chapter, also by Evans, concerns deathbed and
near-death experiences. Evans concludes that all of the experiences dealt with in
the book point to "the unrecognized and consequently unused potential of the human
mind" (p. 188).